Meinhard Doelle (1964-2022)

Professor, Canadian Chair, Marine Environmental Protection

World Maritime University

Profile

 

Canadian Chair, Marine Environmental Protection, World Maritime University

Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University (on leave)

JSD, Dalhousie University, Halifax

LLM, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto

LLB, Dalhousie University, Halifax

BSc Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax

 

Prior to joining WMU in July 2019, Meinhard served as Professor of Law, and Associate Dean, Research at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, and as an Associate Director and Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute (MELAW). He is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

Meinhard served as policy advisor to the federal government during the development of the original Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, as a member of the Regulatory Advisory Committee, and as drafter of the NS Environment Act. He was a non-governmental member of the Canadian delegation to the UN climate negotiations from 2000-2006. He co-chaired the Tidal Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment in 2007, served on the Lower Churchill Joint Federal-Provincial Review Panel from 2009 – 2011, and co-chaired the Nova Scotia panel on aquaculture from 2013 – 2014. He currently serves on the Technical Advisory Committee for the new federal Impact Assessment Act in Canada.

Meinhard has written on a variety of environmental law topics, including climate change, energy, invasive species, environmental assessments, and public participation in environmental decision-making. His books include “Environmental Law: Cases and Materials” (2019), “The Paris Climate Agreement: Analysis and Commentary” (2017), “Compliance in an Evolving Climate Change Regim”e (2011), and “The Federal Environmental Assessment Process, a Guide and Critique” (2009).

Areas of Expertise

  • Environmental Law

  • Climate Change

  • Environmental Impact Assessment

  • International Environmental Law

  • Environmental Governance

  • Renewable Energy Governance

  • Regulatory Approaches

  • Compliance

Selected Publications

Books

 

  • (with Sara Seck) Research Handbook on International, National, and Transnational Responses to Loss & Damage (Edgar Elgar, 2019) (in progress).

  • (with A. John Sinclair) The New Canadian Impact Assessment Act (IAA) (Irwin Law, 2019) (in progress).

  • (with Chris Tollefson) Environmental Law: Cases and Materials (3rd ed) (Toronto: Thomson/Carswell, 2019).

  • (co-editor), The Paris Climate Agreement: Analysis and Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).

  • (co-editor), Promoting Compliance in an Evolving Climate Change Regime, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), (co-author of the introduction and the concluding chapter).

  • (With Chris Tollefson) Environmental Law: Cases and Materials (Toronto: Thomson/Carswell, 2009).

  • The Federal Environmental Assessment Process: A Guide and Critique (Markham, Ont.: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2008).

  • From Hot Air to Action? Climate Change, Compliance and the Future of International Environmental Law (Toronto: Carswell, 2005).

  • Canadian Environmental Protection Act and Commentary, 2005/2006 (Markham, Ont.: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005).

 

Recent Peer Reviewed Articles

 

  • (co-author) Gearing up impact assessment as a vehicle for implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2019) 37 IAPA. (DOI: 10.1080/14615517.2019.1677089).

  • (with Sara Seck), “Loss & Damage from Climate Change: From Concept to Remedy?” (2019) Climate Policy 1752. DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2019.1630353.

  • (with John Sinclair), “The New Federal Impact Assessment Act in Canada: Delivering on Reform Expectations?” (2019) 79 EIAR, 1-9.

  • (with David Wright), “Social Cost of Carbon in Environmental Impact Assessment” (2019) 52:3 UBC Law Review 1007.

  • (with Aldo Chircop), “Decarbonizing International Shipping: Potential Roles of the IMO’s Initial Strategy and the UN Climate Regime” (2019) RECIEL 1-10.

  • (co-author) Effectiveness Of Strategic Environmental Assessment In Canada Under Directive-Based And Informal Practice (2019) 37 IAPA 344.

  • “The Heart of the Paris Rulebook: Communicating NDCs and Accounting for Their Implementation” (2019) 9 Climate Law 3.

  • (with Bob Gibson and Karine Peloffy), “Challenges and opportunities of a forthcoming strategic assessment of the implications of international climate change mitigation commitments for individual undertakings in Canada” (2018) 10 Sustainability 3747.

  • “Compliance in Transition: Facilitative Compliance Finding its Place in the Paris Climate Regime” (2018) 12 CCLR 229.

  • (with John Sinclair and Bob Gibson), “Implementing Next Generation Assessment: A Case Example of a Global Challenge” (2018) 72 EIAR, 166.

  • “Toward a Principled Design of Provincial Cap & Trade Systems: Lessons from Nova Scotia’s Proposal to Meet the Carbon Pricing Requirement in the Pan-Canadian Framework for Climate Change”, (2018) J. Env. L. & Prac. 293.

  • (co-author) “From Smokes to Smokestacks: Lessons from Tobacco for the Future of Climate Change Liability” (2017) 30 Geo Int’l Envtl L Rev. 1.

  • (co-author) “Looking Up, Down, and Sideways: Reconceiving Cumulative Effects Assessment as a Mindset” (2017) 62 EIAR 183.

  • (co-author), “Polyjural and Polycentric Sustainability Assessment: A Once-in-a-Generation Law Reform Opportunity” (2016) 30 J. Env. L. & Prac. 35.

  • “The Paris Agreement, Historic Breakthrough or High Stakes Experiment?” (2016) 6 Climate Law 1.

  • (co-author) “Fulfilling the Promise: Basic Components of Next Generation Environmental Assessment” (2016) 29 J. Env. L. & Prac. 257.

  • “Offshore Renewable Energy Governance in Nova Scotia: A Case Study of Tidal Energy in the Bay of Fundy” (2015) 29 Ocean Yearbook 271.

  • “The Sydney Tar Ponds Case: Shutting the Door on Environmental Class Action Suits in Nova Scotia?” (2015) 27 J. Env. L. & Prac. 279.

  • (with Rebecca Critchley) “The Role of Strategic Environmental Assessments in Improving the Governance of Emerging New Industries: A Case Study of Wind Developments in Nova Scotia” (2015) 11:1 JSDLP 87 – 114.

Activities

  • Member of Technical Advisory Committee on the new federal Impact Assessment Act, 2019 –

  • Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Climate Law, 2013 –

  • Member of the Editorial Board, Lakehead Law Journal, 2014 –

  • Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Canadian Environmental Regulation and Compliance News, 1996 –

  • Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Ocean Yearbook, 2006 –

  • Member, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, 2008 –

  • Legal Advisor, Legal Response Initiative (offering legal advice to developing countries at the UN climate negotiations) 2012 –

  • Member, National Steering Committee, Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot, 2010 –